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Monday, May 1, 2017

How hot are my bees?

Invariably, there are two questions that new beeks unaccustomed to working with honey bees ask:

Are my bees aggressive?

What do I do with them?

It's important to know whether you have mean bees or simply defensive ones because pleasant bees will greatly enhance your enjoyment of the hobby.

In evaluating your bees, be aware that there are certain things that will make even the sweetest tempered bees temporarily crabby. For example:

A dearth

Bad weather (rain, snow, cold, etc.)

Attacks from predators

Being relocated (e.g., shipped in a package or hauled in a vehicle)

However, if your bees temper doesn't improve within a couple of weeks, or if they get noticeably worse as their colony size increases, it might be time to re-evaluate.

With that said, as I was organizing some bookmarked pages, I found a chart that was very helpful to me a few years ago. However, there were a few lines that I felt were a little confusing or that I disagreed on. For example, I'm not sure that an aggressive hive automatically needs to be destroyed. Yes, drones from a nasty hive will spread their DNA, but from what I've read, some of the hardier races of bees tend to be a bit on the less workable side, so maybe they have something worth keeping in the gene pool. Also, I feel there is something of a sliding scale when it comes to aggressive bees. For example, I've had colonies that would swarm me, stinging as often as they could, for more than 100'. However, with enough layers of clothing, it was possible, sort of, to inspect them. They were definitely hot, but they weren't like the bees that cover every bit of your veil until you can't see.

So anyway, here is my re-worked version of the chart.

If you've had experience with aggressive bees, how have you dealt with them?

My bees are all docile. Though I do wear protection, including gloves, every time I open a hive. Can't bring myself to not have it on. I get a little bumping sometimes and occasionally one or two will try to find a way through the veil. Hopefully they stay that way.